The Sprout

Platinum Beacon,

June 2022

The Newsletter for North Hinksey & Botley

Issue 169 July 2022

The Sprout

The Newsletter for North Hinksey & Botley

Directors: Janet Bartlam, Judi Bolder, John Clements,

Michael Cockman, Ag MacKeith, Robin Palmer

Editor

Ag MacKeith

South View House, Old Botley, OX2 0JR Tel: 724452 Editor@TheSprout.org.uk

Advertising Manager

Michael Cockman

50, St Paul's Crescent OX2 9AG Te l : 07766 317691 Adverts@TheSprout.org.uk

Deliveries

Jan Shirley and Isabelle Hayes

9, Sweetmans Road OX2 9BA 07706 606719 Deliveries@TheSprout.org.uk

Copy Date: Copy by 15th of month preceding publication. Earlier submission is

welcome. Later contributions may have to be held over to the next issue.

Advertisements: If you have print-ready advertisements in the correct format the

last day for booking advertising is the 10th of the month preceding publication; in all

other circumstances more advance notice will be needed. For details about exact

sizes, quality requirements, advice on text and help with production, please contact

the Advertising Manager.

Advertising rates:

½ page: 1 issue £56; 3 issues £135; 5 issues £196; 10 issues; £336

¼ page: 1 issue £28; 3 issues £67.50; 5 issues £98; 10 issues; £168

1/8 page: 1 issue £14; 3 issues £33.75; 5 issues £49; 10 issues; £84

Subscriptions: If you live outside North Hinksey Parish you can still receive The

Sprout on a regular basis. Just take out a postal subscription – only £12 per annum,

delivered to your door. Contact: Carol Kramer 01865 243002.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information printed in this

newsletter, mistakes may happen. The Editor and Team apologize unreservedly for

any errors that may occur and will do their best to correct them. This publication is not

a vehicle of the parish council, and parish councillors working with the Sprout do so in

a personal capacity. Opinions expressed are the opinions of the individual

contributors.

All concerned in the production and delivery of The Sprout are unpaid volunteers.

The Sprout is printed by Dataprint Ltd, and published by North

Hinksey Parish Publications Ltd, (a company limited by

guarantee) Registration No. 05609535.

It can also be found online at BotleyHinksey.org.uk

The Sprout

Issue 169, July 2022

Contents

3 Letters to the Editor

Oxford Area Quillers

Bring and Take

5 Botley in Bloom winners

11 Skatepark Latest

15 Botley Medical Practice

17 Jubilee Beacon Party

19 Jubilee at the Lunch Club

21 West Way Jubilee Festival

and Local History exhibition

27 Jubilee Street Parties

31 District Councillor

Planning Apps

33 The Romance of Oxford

34 All Go at Botley School

35 The Big Plastic Count

36 Roger Smith at Botley Arts

37 Randoms

39 Local Organizations

From the Editor

Most of this month’s Sprout is a record of the many and varied local

responses to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Pages 17 to 29 cover the

Beacon Party, the West Way Festival, the Local History Exhibition, the

street parties – even the Lunch Club had a special meal. We won’t soon

forget the excitement as the beacon flared into the night – it doesn’t

happen very often! It was great to get together and enjoy the simple fun

of shared celebration, and it was well recorded by local photographers.

Thank you, Miles Gomme, for the picture on the cover and thanks also to

everyone else who sent in photos. There have been other things going on

too: we are happy to announce the deserving winners of Botley in Bloom

2022 (p5), the prizes (thank you NHPC) will be presented on 3rd July. The

Botley Medical Practice now has a new practice manager (p15); the

Skatepark designs are nearly finished (p11); and Chris Andrews, living

locally but globally famous for his beautiful photos of Oxford, has a

special offer for Sprout readers (p33). The Big Bring and Take on 9th July

(p3) gives us a chance to recycle things we no longer need. It’s the

Sprout AGM on 14th August up at the Pavilion – a chance to thank all the

people who make it happen (p38). Summer holidays are coming up – our

next issue will be in September. Have a good summer!

Ag MacKeith

Letters to the Editor

Plaudits

I would like to say a big THANK YOU to all the wonderful people who

worked so hard to make the fantastic Jubilee celebrations.

Also for the excellent work done by the litter pickers.

Kathleen E. Cattell

I have been in Botley nearly 12 years now and I have always found all

the Staff at the Botley Medical Practice to be very friendly and efficient.

Adam Hardiman

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oxford Area Quillers

Quilling is an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are

rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs. The

paper is rolled, looped, curled, twisted, and otherwise manipulated to

create shapes that make up designs to decorate greetings cards,

pictures, boxes, eggs, and to make models, jewellery, mobiles,etc.

We will be holding an Open Day with workshops, showing how you

can use quilling alone, or with other crafts you might already do. There

will be cakes for sale, etc on Saturday 30 July from 10:30 am until

approximately 3pm (drop in and drop out as you please) at the WI Hall

in North Hinksey Lane. Just come to look, browse, chat, or to buy, or

just to see the hall’s new extension. We would love to see you all. If you

would like more information you can email me on angelaarnold@aol.com

or phone 01865 244265.

Angela Arnold

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GREAT BOTLEY BRING AND TAKE

ST PETER AND ST PAUL CHURCH HALL

SATURDAY 9TH JULY – Bring from 10 am, Take from 10.30.

All over by 12.30. NO RUBBISH! Janet.e.hemingway@gmail.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Botley In Bloom 2022

Many thanks to all those who

took part in this year’s Botley in Bloom

Front Garden competition. After a slow

start, Jubilee Bank Holiday enthusiasm seemed to prompt

a flurry of entries! The diverse planting was more impressive

than ever this year, and the combination of sun and rain has resulted in

a riot of colour in our gardens. We saw so many pretty gardens, and

with the roses in full bloom we had a hard job to make decisions.

However, I am delighted to announce the winners in each of the three

categories as follows:

BEST OVERALL FRONT GARDEN

1st prize – 3 Halliday Lane. John and Vicci Fleming have turned a

rectangle of lawn into a beautiful crevice garden with a winding gravel

path, inspired by RHS Wisley. The creativity and design are most

impre s s iv e !

2nd prize – 94 North Hinksey Lane. The appropriately named Phil

Bloomer’s front garden has a real ‘wow’ factor, with a riot of colour. He

also scored very highly for the environmentally sympathetic planting –

the judges felt it was a close run thing for first place.

Highly Commended – 13 Maple Close. Andrea Flear’s lovingly

created front garden is beautiful with a great mix of plants and colour.

BEST CULTIVATED-WILDLIFE FRONT GARDEN

1st prize – 1 St Pauls Crescent. Rebecca and Fred Walker have

designed a lovely front garden which supports a lot of wildlife, including

a good-sized pond, grasses, and trees. We loved the planting.

2nd prize – 36 North Hinksey Village. Chris & Elaine Sugden take

full advantage of the stream running alongside their property and the

judges really like the native plants and wild flowers that grace its banks.

If anything, the garden looks even better than last year when they won

this category!

Highly Commended – 9 Sweetmans Road. Jan Shirley’s front

garden is delightful with the ‘lawn’ a mass of marjoram.

Highly Commended – 30 Cope Close. The wildlife friendliness of

Linda Losito’s garden is lovely and very worthy of a second Highly

Commended rating.

BEST JUBILEE HANGING BASKET OR WINDOW BOX

1st prize – 31 Chestnut Road. Ilaria, Thomas and Julia Yeomans

have created an ingenious rain-water harvesting area with decorative

window boxes on the front. They are to be complimented also on their

environmentally-friendly off-road parking.

There were no other entries for this category.

Our thanks go to LeoQuent for kindly sponsoring the cost of posters and

North Hinksey Parish Council for providing funding, allowing us to

award prizes and certificates to all first and second places. National

Garden Scheme vouchers of £30 will find their way to first prize winners

with £20 vouchers for second place. Highly Commended places will

receive a certificate. Prizes will be presented in the garden of 23 St

Paul’s Crescent on Sunday 3rd July.

Most of all, my fellow judge Jan Bartlam and I wish to thank everyone

who entered the competition, with special congratulations to all those

whose hard work and imagination give so much pleasure to the rest of

the neighbourhood. We really enjoyed looking at all the front gardens

and especially meeting some of you on our way round.

Viv Smith

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Botley Bowl Skatepark

On Saturday June 4th, Botley came together to celebrate the Queen’s

Jubilee, and with bunting flying and skates on, we presented the latest

proposals to the general public for the new Botley Skatepark.

At our stall we were met with the excited faces of children peering over

their own boards, out from under oversized helmets, parents in tow. It

was two girls, Sky Brown and Bombette Martin, who represented Britain

at last year’s Olympics in skateboarding and, well, why couldn’t we find

the next one in Oxford?

Well, we can’t if we don’t have parks! It was heartening to speak to the

community in Botley about this project and the feedback was

overwhelmingly positive and supportive. Here are some of the

comments:

• “This would be a really good local resource. My sons are 10 and 11

and would love to be able to learn locally, as we do not drive.”

• “It would be nice to see a skate park somewhere near where every-

one lived. Please make this happen.”

• “What a great plan. This would be such a great place for people,

young and old, to socialize and enjoy a fun hobby.”

• “I THINK THIS WILL HELP PEOPLE LOCALLY GO OUTSIDE AND

GET OUT MORE!” (this from a wise child!)

We are really

grateful to North

Hinksey Parish

Council for providing

this welcome local

facility. The project is

now well under way.

Canvas Spaces

have been chosen

as the contractor

who will provide the

park, and their first design, which was a mass of billowing curves, is

being revised by our core design working party of users and their

parents.

The first version of the design is above, the second version, has more

differentiated sections. As you can see from the image, it retains the

bowl element that

references our famous

earlier park, but has

acquired a flat space

for street skating (and

little kids on scooters)

and a mini-ramp off to

the side for less

experienced skaters to

practise tricks and kids

on BMXs to have fun

away from the main

action. The two parts are much the same size despite the image above),

and the whole park is being tailored to fit in behind the play equipment

on the site of the old bowl.

The core group of users will finalise the design very soon, and then it

will be time to go for planning permission and start raising the money.

It’s not going to be cheap, and we’ll need all the help we can get!

reading The Sprout, another proud part of our Botley Community.

Georgia Wren

Botley and Kennington Patients Participation Group

On May 19th the PPG executive met with Pete Culley the new Practice

Manager of the Botley Medical Centre. His career experience is as a

practice manager in dentistry, work for BUPA as an area manager and

operations manager. He has most recently worked as practice

manager at Southam.

He told us that he had prepared a lot of practices for Care Quality

Commission visits and saw his role as ensuring that they got to ‘good’

or above. He has developed an action sheet for what needs attention

and will seek to ensure that everything is in place before the next CQC

inspec t io n , due in June or July. His post is full time: he will spend th re e

days a week in Botley and two in Kennington. We learned the new

BMC website should go live by the middle of the summer.

The PPG Executive discussed the following points with him:

• How he sees communication and consultation with the PPG;

• The need for 6-monthly meetings of a monitoring team, which

includes the PPG, to keep progress on track;

• Securing test results and where tests take place;

• Issues around securing appointments;

• Developing a practice newsletter;

• Holding ‘face-to-face’ PPG meetings in the surgeries, along with

technological support to enable them to be ‘hybrid’.

PPG is now holding meetings face-to-face, and he made clear his

intention to attend.

Chris Sugden (Secreta ry)

Jubilee Beacon Party

Thursday June 2nd 2022 was the day our community began a weekend

long celebration commemorating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. The first

event of this four-day party was our Community Beacon Party, held on

the Louie Memorial playing fields. The high point of the evening was the

lighting of the magnificent beacon at 9:45pm, our link in the chain of

1500 beacons, lit simultaneously across the UK and beyond.

The LM Pavilion, MUGA and playing fields, festooned with rows and

rows of bunting, hand painted by pupils of all the local schools, hosted a

Tap S o c i al p o p -up bar, a BBQ courtesy of the 15th Scout Group and a

‘Down the Decades Disco’. People brought picnics to share, and some

even made the Jubilee Tart, specially devised for the celebration, as

promoted in The Sprout.

By eight o’clock the playing field outside the LM Pavilion was packed

with eager beacon-ites. It’s hard to put an exact figure on the night’s

attendance but estimates range from 400-1200 people, young and old,

royalists and revellers, but all wonderfully patient and good natured.

Sightings of some super fifties, sixties and

seventies fashions were rumoured among

the throng. These photos (thank you, Miles

Gomme) record a

couple of the more

memorable efforts.

The beer, burgers

and boogying kept

the crowds happy

until nine o’clock

when Philip

Powell’s bagpipes

played the candle-lit (er… tealight in a jar)

procession across the field to the trail up

the hill. Oxford Harmony Choir were there

to welcome them with some rousing choruses. When the time came,

Sam Pogose sounded and resounded the fanfare, and our invited

igniter, Layla Moran MP, sparked up the beacon, making sure it was well

lit on all sides, to the joy of the cheering crowds.

Everyone launched into the national anthem as the beacon flared into

the night sky overhead. As the spectacular flames settled into a steady

blaze, we counted the distant sparks around the horizon that indicated

other beacons like ours – the best

count showed seven of them, the

nearest on Beacon Hill at Farmoor.

Before very long the blaze

subsided, and people began to

make their way back down, very

grateful to the marshals whose

steady torches lit the dark path. At

the Pavilion they found a welcome

cup of hot chocolate waiting for

them. The last of the jubilee

revellers departed around eleven

o’clock.

It was a brilliant night, not only

celebrating the Queen’s remarkable

reign, but for many a celebration of

the rebirth of our community

activities, of getting together with

family and friends old and new, and sharing good times once again.

Ali Hogg

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Botley Seniors Lunch Club – Jubilee Celebration

On Thursday, 26 May Botley Seniors Lunch Club celebrated the

Platinum Jubilee with a special

lunch. The menu was:

Gammon with Cumberland Sauce

Roast Potatoes and Mixed

Vegetables

Jubilee Meringue Nests with

cream, strawberries and

blueberries

The tables were decorated with

red table-cloths and napkins and

looked very festive.

Any enquiries about Lunch Club please contact Jackie Warner on

01865 721386.

West Way Jubilee Festival

So much happened at the shopping precinct on Saturday afternoon that

it’s hard to know where to start – perhaps with the Bötley Crüe, who

fired up the party spirit from their first song. You can see accounts of the

Skatepark stall and the History

Exhibition on other pages, but what

about the Cake Competition? All those

lurid creations

ably ranked

and judged by

Kyle from the

Missing Bean.

Here he is,

and here’s

one of the

more regal

cakes.

Then there was Ali Hogg’s Stamp

Portraits (my personal favourite), where he drew round the shadow of

your profile, thrown against the back

wall of the hall by a strong torch. Then

you coloured it in and he applied the

perforations round the edge and there

you were, a modern Penny Black.

Here he is with one of the portraits:

And finally, among all the other

memorable acts – Barricane, songs

from Stagecoach – who could forget

the synchronized trampolining of three

women from Bounce Fitness, one of

whom somehow managed to keep

calling the moves all the time she was

jumping without ever losing her breath

or missing a beat. The kids loved it too,

bouncing along on their own mini trampolines. And did I mention the

Capoeira display? The children’s Treasure Hunt? The Henna painting?

The exhibition by Botley Arts? Well done, all those volunteers, and

particularly Lorna Berrett, recently honoured by Buckingham Palace for

her community work during the first lockdown, and the one person who

managed to keep all Saturday’s different elements in her head at the

same time! Ag MacKeith

Jubilee Local History Exhibition

With all of the Festival action going on outside Seacourt Hall on

Saturday afternoon, we initially wondered how much interest would be

shown in our rather more

sedate attraction inside.

We didn’t have to worry

for long as the space was

soon packed with locals

keen to find out more

about the history of Botley

over the years, with an

emphasis on the 1950s

and royal connections as

befits an event celebrating

the Queen’s Platinum

Jubilee.

Displays included slideshows on the Hall’s large screen of local

photographs from Victorian times to the present; a range of historical

maps of Botley from the 1760s through Ordnance Survey plans to the

intriguing Russian map of 1973; the disappearing world of the many

local landmarks that have been swept away over the past century; hot

topics locally in the post-WWII era before and after the Coronation (lots

of allotments, pig swill, housing, flooding, public toilets, and even a

proposed swimming pool); photos of locals meeting members of the

Royal Family and much more. The photo shows the authors of the

three parts of the exhibition:

Martin Harris (Royalty),

Malcolm Graham (maps and

the slide show) and David Kay

(parish council history).

There was even an informal poll

to gauge people’s opinions

about monarchs of the past

1,200 years (excluding the

current Queen). It clearly

showed the lasting impact of

the Tudors who gained almost half of the total votes across three

categories. The winners and some of the reasons given for choosing

them were:

• Best monarch – Queen Elizabeth I (mostly for initiating girl power –

an early Ginger Spice)

• Most interesting monarch – King Henry VIII (also a strong second in

the most overrated category, lots of mentions of the 6 wives and

their fates, plus he ticked off all of the Seven Deadly Sins by the

end)

• Most overrated monarch – Richard I (the Lionheart, but other than

bravery during the Crusades he almost bankrupted the country

when captured and ransomed, he probably didn’t speak a word of

English and only spent about 6 months of his entire life here.)

The three of us certainly had an interesting time putting together this

exhibition, and from the enthusiastic response of the several hundred

visitors who took the opportunity to view all of the displays, it seems that

there is a much wider interest in this topic. Our thanks to the

Oxfordshire History Centre for supplying copies of maps and Henry

Tau n t pho t os, al so to Cu m n or & D i s tr ic t His t or y So c ie ty, retrowow.co.uk,

to all who provided photos, documents and reminiscences and to

everybody who came on the day.

David Kay

Jubilee Street Parties

The celebrations carried on over the weekend, with locally organized

street parties all around. Here are three The Sprout has been told of:

North Hinksey Village held its own Jubilee Party on the village green

on Sunday 5th. It was a bring-and-share do and included a jubilee trifle

(which did not take 14 hours to make). While rain threatened, it held off

till the clearing up had begun. Peter Skinner brought his Nostalgia

Travel double-decker Dennis Bus (used for wedding parties) as a refuge

in case it rained.

The highlight was Ukrainian singing by Natalia, who came to live in the

village a few weeks ago with her 12-year-old daughter under the Gov-

ernment's visa scheme. She is a school music teacher, and has been

given a home in the house of a member of the Cumnor Choral Society.

By a lucky chance, another music teacher lives in the house opposite,

who was able to accompany her on the cello, with a guitarist as well.

Natalia sang a couple of Ukrainian songs and then had the whole

gathering of 40–50 residents singing a simple song in Ukrainian, about

a family with red hair starting with the Granddad. Once we had the

words and the tune she then had us clapping, and finally foot tapping as

well. She certainly knew how to work a crowd! Thankfully she stopped

before making us sing faster and faster!! She said that she had felt

welcome as

into a family.

Her husband

is still in Kyiv

in the military

The picture

gives a sense

of this festive

occasion.

Plants had

been sold on

the village

green over the

last two

weeks, raising

£100 for extra food for those looking after internally displaced people in

Ukraine.

Chris Sugden

Beech Road also had a party. Julie Watson sent this account:

The residents of Beech Road

came together for a jubi-

lee/po s t-Covid street party.

Although the weather wasn’t

very favourable, a bit of rain

couldn’t stop multiple genera-

tions of people (from just 11 weeks up

to the extreme age of the Queen!) gath-

ering to celebrate.

Reminiscent of times gone past, chil-

dren played for the first time together

along the empty street and live music

was provided by two of the residents.

Lots of lovely food was shared, Pimm’s and fizz were flowing and lots of

cake was eaten Pictures show Old and Young, the Musicians, and the lavish

spread

Finally, here’s an account of the goings on behind the Seacourt Bridge.

Poplar Road held a fabulous street party on Sunday 5th June. After a

long and lovely weekend of Platinum Jubilee celebrations, under skies

that threatened – but did not deliver – rain , around 30 neighbours

enjoyed each other’s contributions to the feast. We had the official

Jubilee pudding, delicious devilled eggs from our resident American and

a ‘scone-off’ from two houses on

opposite sides of the street. Rogue

republicans were tempted in when

passing for the odd piece of cake,

there was a promise to ‘regalise your

future’ from a monarch visiting from

centuries from now*, a new and

extremely cute puppy, and a whole

range of flags adorning the house of

Poplar Road’s very own vexillologist

(clue, Latin for flag is vexillum).

Zuhura Plummer

(*The Sprout can reveal further information on this interesting visitor

from the future, as follows: “Another character gracing the party was

Quing Eli Zabeth Windsor, the current Queen’s great, great grandson.

He had travelled back from the future and was sporting a stylish take on

‘smart/ casual’: dinner jacket, bow tie and sarong.”)

From Your District Councillor

Lots of people already do litter picking in our

community, helping to make Botley better.

Thanks for all you do!

This summer Vale are running a Litter Mapping

exercise. If you can let Vale know the sort of

litter you find, and where you find it, our clean-up

programmes can be more effectively targeted.

All the details are here, including an online form

to fill in. https://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/vale-of-white-horse-district-

council/recycling-rubbish-and-waste/our-litter-mapping-project/

Won't you check it out?

Councillor Surgeries: Residents from across North Hinksey parish

(including Parish Councillors of course) are invited to drop in and speak

to us in person at any one of our surgeries. Upcoming dates are:

• Fri 15th July, 1:30-3pm , Pappo, West Way Square, Botley

• Weds 7th Sept, 11:30am-1pm, The Flowing Well, Sunningwell

• Sat 8th Oct, 10:30-am-12pm, Pappo, West Way Square, Botley

• Sat 12th Nov, 10:30am-12pm, The White Hart, Wytham

You can also phone me on 07545 241013

Cllr Debby Hallett, Lib Dem member for Botley & Sunningwell Ward

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LOCAL PLANNING APPLICATIONS

P22/V1130/HH

4 North Hinksey Lane. Rebuild existing

outbuilding as a workshop.

9 May

TDD: 4 July

P22/V1144/LDP

71 Arthray Rd. Change hip to gable loft

conversion with rear facing dormer.

10 May

TDD: 5 July

P22/V1156/HH

Material

Amendment to

P21/V1013/HH

23 Cumnor Rise Rd. Replace existing

garage & carport with timber-framed

ditto. Erect single-storey extension to

rear of dwelling & porch at front.

16 May

Target D ecision

Date: 11 July

P22/V1253/FUL

3 Laburnum Rd. Convert to 8-person

HMO, demolish garage, outbuilding &

single storey at rear. Erect 2-storey

side & single storey rear extensions.

19 May

TDD: 14 July

P22/V1262/HH

Grayflete, Vernon Ave. Extension and

alterations to existing dwelling.

20 May

TDD: 15 July

P22/V1182/HH

35 Montagu Rd. Single storey

extension & internal alteration of

existing semi-detached house.

25 May

TDD: 20 July

Chris Andrews and the Romance of Oxford

In June 1982 I walked into central Oxford with my newly produced

postcards in my hot little hand and approached half a dozen shops to

see if they would sell them. The cards featured my photography in what

I hoped was an attractive but atmospheric style. The then manager of

Blackwell dubbed them ‘The Romance of Oxford’. We still use this title.

The first deliveries were on 8th June 1982, a Tuesday. By Friday five of

the six shops had phoned me, having sold so many cards they needed

to reorder. Since then we have sold over 20 million postcards, around a

million books and half a million calendars. All using my photography.

I have photographed most of the Oxford Colleges as well as some in

Cambridge, photographed and published books on the Cotswolds,

Chilterns, Bath and Stratford, as well as the Channel Islands (including

decamping the whole young family for a year to live on an island),

established a publishing business in Belfast, been commissioned to go

to Chile for location work for a film, gone to the Falkland Islands for

work on a book and been to South Africa to launch a book of Botanical

Illustrations we had published for another company.

If you go to https://mailchi.mp/cap-ox.com/40-years-in-publishing you

can see a lighthearted little film piece on us as a whole.

To s ha r e t hi s a c hi e ve m e n t w it h r ea d e rs of th e S p ro u t I w o u ld l ik e t o o ffe r

15% discount until end July on all our products (except Limited Edition

books). Just email me at pictures@cap-ox.com or call the office on 01865

723404 quoting “Sprout”. To see our current publications please go to

www.cap-ox.com

Here is one of my pictures: Broad Street (minus cars)

It’s All Happening at Botley School

This term has seen the return of KS2

SATS, and a growth in after-school clubs,

which now include tennis, football, dance

and netball. We hosted and participated in

the local ‘Quadkids’ sporting festival, and

are sending our winning teams to the Vale

finals in Abingdon at the end of the

month! The highly popular Kindness and

Chess clubs are also up and running. In

fact we are starting to challenge other local schools to chess

tournaments – so watch this space!

Some of our Year 6 pupils went to London to take part in ‘Young Voices’

at the O2, joining forces with 8000 other primary-age children to lift the

roof with their singing; Years 3 and 4 experienced a ‘Stone Age’ day at

Hill End; and the School Choir are getting ready to perform at the

Festival of Voices in Dorchester Abbey this month. The Friends of

Botley School (FOBS) organised our first School disco for a long time;

pupils across the school took part in magic lantern art workshops; KS1

were excited to get a visit from the author Mini Grey to talk about her

books; the Early Years pupils’ chicks hatched; and we finished the term

by inviting parents to our Jubilee celebration of country dancing,

culminating in a celebratory dance when pupils, staff and parents joined

forces on the playground – a truly special moment when our community

came properly back together again at last!

We are now fundraising for a new Early Years play area at

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/botley-early-years-playground. It would be

wonderful if any ex-pupils, families, businesses – or indeed anyone from

the local community – were able to support us!

We are also on the lookout for new Play Workers for our Breakfast Club

and After School Club. Both are lovely part-time roles, ideally suited to

people who like children and (for Breakfast Club), getting up early! The

hours are 7:15-8:45am, Monday to Friday for Breakfast Club, and for

After School Club it’s 3:15-6:15pm, Monday and Friday only. The hourly

rate is £9.99, rising to £10.19. See www.botleyschool.org.uk

/vacancies for the advert, job description and application form. The

closing date is 11 July, with interviews on July 15th. Please get in touch

with business manager@botley.oxon.sch.uk if you’d like to know more. If

you know of anyone who might be interested, do tell them! Thank you!

Alex Neil

The Big Plastic Count

This has been sent in by a concerned local resident:

Did you take part in The Big Plastic Count (week of 16th to 22nd May)?

This is a collaboration between Greenpeace and the social enterprise

Everyday Plastic. The Big Plastic Count is a nationwide investigation

into what happens to the plastic that packages our food, drink, and

other goods after it leaves our homes.

Participants had to tally all the plastic packaging they threw away at

home, ideally for seven days, categorising it according to headings

provided by Everyday Plastic. The deadline for submission of individual

results was 31 May, and the overall results from around the UK will be

released in mid-July.

At the end of seven days of tallying my own waste I was shocked to find

my Botley household of two people had thrown away 93 items of plastic

packaging.

According to the organisers’ estimates, only 12% of all plastic waste is

recycled; the rest is exported, burnt, or sent to landfill.

This investigation is meant to send a wake-up call to government,

supermarkets, and big brands to take more action on plastic in the

environment. But is there anything Sprout readers can do to improve

their recycling scores? I look for recycling information on all plastic items

(sometimes having to use a magnifying glass) and also use paper

packaging wherever possible.

And someone else added:

I did the big plastic count too and was horrified that our household of

two used 88 items of plastic packaging despite my being careful to

avoid plastic whenever I can.

[It really is a big problem. I

checked www.oxfordshire.gov.uk

‘Waste Wizard’ to see if the Vale

would recycle the two sackfuls of

‘stretchy’ plastic in my shed. It

seems they do take it, but where

does it go after my green bin? Can

we be confident that it is actually

recycled? Ed]

Botley Arts features Roger Smith

For reasons beyond their control, Botley Arts was obliged to cancel the

Tereza Barnard exhibition announced in last month’s Sprout. Their cur-

rent exhibition is of works by Roger Smith.

I have been interested in photography since my teens, when it was part

of my work at the Royal Aircraft establishment at Farnborough. That

was when I built my first pinhole camera, completely fascinated by how

nothing more than a pinhole could pro-

duce an image. Camera Obscuras are like

pinhole cameras but with a lens. They

were used to observe eclipses, avoiding

the damage to the eye that can be caused

by direct observation of the Sun. They

were also used by many famous artists,

Canaletto and Vermeer, for instance, to

sketch out the scenes they wished to

paint. In Venice, I actually handled the

Camera Obscura that Canaletto used, and

I have followed his example by using it for

some of the pictures in this exhibition.

When I retired in 2000, I enrolled at Rycotewood College in Thame for a

two-year full-time HND course in Restoration Studies. For me it brought

together several areas of long-standing interest, in design, science, car-

pentry, art, and engineering. The HND course included time as an

intern at Oxford’s Museum of the History of Science, and I was able to

make a replica of a portable early 19th century Camera Obscura as a

final project for my course (see photo). I studied the history of this

appliance and have made several more. The Bodleian Library commis-

sioned me to make a working example for their exhibition on John

Aubrey, and I have also made some for the National Trust.

We are fortunate to have Marcus Hodge as course tutor at Sunningwell

School of Art. He is one of the UK's leading portrait painters, and

worked as war artist for The Times in Afghanistan. I was grateful for all

he taught me about oil painting techniques during lockdown. You will

find oil paintings in the exhibition, as well as pen and ink drawings.

I hope to include a short presentation of the Camera Obscuras and

paintings during my exhibition at St Peters and St Pauls with Botley

Arts. The exhibition runs from Monday 4th July to the end of August.

Randoms

West Oxford U3A Music Group

Did you know about the West Oxford U3A Discovering Music Group? It

is small, friendly and sociable. We meet at 2.15pm in our homes, usual-

ly on the third Thursday of each month to listen to recorded music,

mainly classical (including opera). We bring items which we enjoy and

think others will enjoy too, or find intriguing. In this way we have made

many delightful discoveries, and we freely express our reactions. We

often finish with something in lighter mood.

If you are interested or know someone who might be, please contact me

at grimshaw.johnla@btinternet.com or telephone 01865 861949.

John Grimshaw

Mosaic workshops

There will be 5 mosaic workshops at the Seacourt Hall on Thursdays

10am-12pm between 23rd June and 21st July. These are free public

sessions with artist Clare Goodall, and will form part of her mosaic

panels commission for public art in West Way Square. Participants will

be able to learn cutting and layout techniques to make mosaics to the

designs set out in the plans. Full guidance will be given. All abilities

welcome. Attendance is limited to

12 participants in each workshop.

Interested? Contact Lorna on

lberrett.n h p c @gma il.c o m

Natalia’s music lessons

Natalia is a music teacher from

Ukraine, living for a while in North

Hinksey (see page 27). She can

teach piano, ukulele and recorder,

but her main work experience is in

running group classes for all ages

using the Orff approach.

She’s hoping to find work teaching

group classes for parents with kids,

plus some private lessons. Don’t

miss this unusual opportunity – you

can contact her via her mobile (with

its Ukrainian number): it is +380666

384453

Saturdads

This Saturday session for Dads and their young children is starting

again on 2nd July, 11-12 noon at Botley Bridges in Elms Road, and on

the first Saturday of the month thereafter. Just drop in – there’s no need

to book. Further info from coordinator@botleybridges.org

Louie Memorial Pavilion Committee AGM,

The Louie Memorial Pavilion Committee invites you to its Annual Gen-

eral Meeting on Sunday 4 September at 3.30pm. Items to be covered

include the annual accounts, business during the year, and election of

members. The meeting will be an informal event, taking place during the

pop-up café. If you’ve been thinking about being more involved in your

community, do come along, as the committee is always on the look-out

for new members to bring fresh ideas to the forum.

Sprout AGM

This will take place at the Pop-up café on the Louie Memorial Upper

Field on Sunday 14th August, 3.30 pm. Do come and tell us what you’d

like to see in our friendly local mag, hear about the challenges we face

as Botley fills up, and get a sense of our likely future.

Cumnor Choral Society

The society had a joyful return to live performance during 2021-2022,

following the Covid lay-off. We performed Handel’s Messiah in the

Autumn 2021, followed in the spring of 2022 by Fauré’s Requiem and

Mendelssohn’s Hear My Prayer.

This Autumn we will be performing Haydn’s Harmoniemesse and

Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols Rehearsals will start

on 23rd September at Cumnor Old School, starting at 8 p.m., all

welcome. The performance on 3rd December will be at St. Peter & St.

Paul Church in Botley, conducted by Peter Foster, our musical director.

If you enjoy singing in a friendly atmosphere we would love you to join

us. A voice test is not required, just that you are enthusiastic about the

music. Each section has experienced singers who will be happy to

support you if you are new to choral singing. The choir sings a classical

repertoire drawn from both sacred and secular, with concerts twice a

year in the autumn and early summer. Rehearsals are once a week,

with breaks over Christmas, the school holidays and through the

summer (early June – early September) For more details please

contact John May at john may@ b tin te r n e t.c o m or 07795 054142 or go to

cumnorchoralsociety.wordpress.com Steve Morrris

Organizations: If your organization is not listed here, please send details

to editor@thesprout.org.uk or telephone 724452 for inclusion.

1st Botley Brownies

Girls aged 7–10

Dean Court Community Centre Thur 6–7.30 Jean

Metson, firstbotleybrownies@g m a il.com

2nd Botley Brownies

Girls aged 7–10

Rosary Room, Yarnells Hill. Tues 6:15-7:45 Alison

Griffin 2ndbotleybrownies@outlook.com

4th Oxford Scout Group

Beavers, Cub Scouts, Scouts

mail@thefourth.org.uk Website:

http://www.thefourth.org.uk/

15th Oxford Scout Group

Boys and girls welcome

Fridays, Cubs 6.30-8, Scouts 8-9.30, Pavilion, Fogwell Rd.

Amy Cusden (Cubs) 07887 654386, Tom Freeman (Scouts)

07837 623768 xvoxfordscouts@yahoo.co.uk

Baby & Toddler Group

Tues/Thurs 9.15–11, SS Peter & Paul Church Hall

BikeSafe. B4044 community

path campaign

Wants to connect Botley to Eynsham. Meets every 6-8

weeks. Contact via website B4044path.org

Books on Wheels R.V.S.

Free Library Service for housebound Ox. 248142

Botley Boys & Girls F.C.

Football teams from ages 8-16

Brendan Byrne 792531

brendan.byrne999@gmail.com

Botley Community Larder

Thursdays, 3.30 to 5.30 at St P&P Church Hall, West

Way, Facebook or email botleylarder@gmail.com

Botley and Kennington

Patients Participation Group

Second Tuesday in the Month, early evening.

Contact csugden@ocrpl.org

Botley Library

07922 849680. Open till 7 on Friday and 1pm on Sat,

otherwise 9.30 to 5.30 (closed Wednesdays).

Botley Seniors Lunch Club

Alternate Thursdays. Seacourt Hall. Jackie Warner

Ox.721386

Cumnor Choral Society

Friday 7.45 to 9.45 pm John May 07795 054142 or

www.cumnorchoralsociety.wordpress.com

Cumnor Chess Club

Thurs 7–9pm Cumnor Old School. Steven Bennett

01993 684494 www.cumnorchessclub.co.uk

Cumnor & District

Historical Society

Last Monday of the month 7.30-9.00 Cumnor Old

School. 01865 724808

Cumnor Gardening Club

http://cumnorgardens.org.uk/

or phone 01865 721026

Harmony InSpires, Ladies'

Acappella Singing Group

Wed 7.30 at Appleton Village Hall. C. Casson 01235

831352 or harmonyinspires@hotmail.co.uk

Hill End Volunteer Team

Contact: David Millin on david.millin@hill-end.org,

call 863510 or visit www.hillend-oec.co.uk

Lawn Tennis Club, N Hinksey

Family club Email: Tennis@OxfordSportsLTC.org

West Oxford Singing Circle

Weds 2-3pm, WOCC, Emily 07969 522368 or see

www.emilyschoirs.co.uk

Morris Dancing – Cry Havoc

Barbara Brett 249599 or bag@cryhavoc.org.uk

North Hinksey Preschool

and Childcare clubs

Mon–Fri 7.45am–6.00 pm. Tel 794287 or email

nhps.manager1@gmail.com

N Hinksey Art Group

Weds 10–12.00 W.I. Hall Christina 07931 707997

N Hinksey Bellringers

Contact: Ray Rook 01865 241451

N Hinksey Conservation

Volunt eers

Meets at weekends Contact Voirrey Carr

07798743121 voirreyc@aol.com

N Hinksey, Friends of

Annual Cricket Match/ Walk. Douglas Bond 791213.

N Hinksey Parish Council

clerk@northhinksey-pc.gov.uk

N Hinksey Youth Club

Weds at LM pavilion, Daz: 07791 212866 or F’book

Oxford Flood Alliance

R Thurston 01865 723663 or 07973 292035

Oxford Flower Arranging

Club

4th Thursday Cumnor. Dympna Walker: Ox 865259

Oxford Harmony

Wednesdays 7.30 – 9.30 pm at Seacourt Hall

Contact pro@oxfordharmony.co.uk

Oxford Otters

Swimming for people with disabilities. Sundays,

twice monthly. Contact: Alan Cusden 723420

Oxford Rugby Club

Boys and girls from 5, kevin.honner@ntlworld.com

Seniors, training etc jbrodley@chandlings.org.uk.

Raleigh Park, Friends of

raleighpark@raleighp ark.o rg.uk

Seacourt Hall Management

Committee

Contact Lottie White, 07452 960100, or see

https://www.seacourthall.org.uk

Shotokan Karate Club

6+ WOCC twice weekly

Martyn King 07836 646450

Stagecoach Botley

Seacourt Hall, Saturdays 9:00am–3pm Performing

Arts for 4-16 yr-olds Oxf 590510 or 01235 390810

Well-Being Walks, Botley

2nd & 4th Saturdays 9.50 Louie Memorial Field car

park, Arnolds Way. Ashley 07717 714477

West Oxford Bowls Club

Dave Ellerker 07931 603801

wobc.membership@gmail.com

West Oxford Taekwon Do

Club

Mon, Thurs 6.30-8pm, MA gym, contact Chris Hall

01865 570291 www.wotkd.co.uk

West Oxford U3A

(Uni of the 3rd Age) http://westoxfordu3a.org.uk/

West Way Day Centre

Mon & Fri 10–3pm, Field House, 07740 611971.

oxfordshirehub@royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk

Women’s Institute (Botley)

Alison Jenner 07598 251161

alisonjenner@yahoo.com

Weight Watchers

Thursdays 6pm at SS Peter & Paul Church Hall

Banso tel: 07779 253899 bansob@aol.com

Baptist Hall

1 Church Way

Contact: Diane Melchert 01865 243664

botleybaptistchurch@gmail.com

The Rosary Room

Yarnells Hill, Elms Rise

Contact Maria Brown,

Te l : 0 1 8 6 5 2 4 7 9 8 6 .

SS Peter & Paul Church

Hall, West Way, Botley

Contact: 01865 242057 or

osneybenefice@outlook.com.

Women's Institute Hall,

North Hinksey Lane

Contact: Val Warner

Te l . 0 1 8 6 5 2 4 5 2 7 3

Seacourt Hall,

3 Church Way

Contact: Lottie White on 07452 960100,

or email admin@seacourthall.org.uk

Pavilion, Arnold’s Way,

Elms Rise, Botley

Contact: Darren Blase 241254

louiememorialpav ilio n @gmail.co m

Oxford Rugby Club,

North Hinksey Village

Contact:. Mary Bagnall

mary.bagnall1@btinternet.com.

North Hinksey & Botley Churches

Times of Services (once resumed) and Contacts

St. Lawrence, Church of England, North Hinksey Lane

1st, 2nd, 4

, 5

Sunday 11 .30am Holy Communion

3 rd Sunday 11.30 am Matins

St. Peter and St. Paul, Church of England, West Way

Sundays 9.30am Holy Communion

Wednesdays 10.30am Holy Communion in Chapel of Holy Spirit

1st Saturday each month, 4–5.30pm Messy Church for children and carers

Rev Clare Sykes, Tel. 01865 242345 or revclare@btinternet.com

See table above for Church Hall enquiries.

Our Lady of the Rosary, Roman Catholic, Yarnell s Hil l

Saturday 6.30pm Mass

Sunday 9.15am Mass

Fr Daniel Lloyd 07584 323915 dlloyd@portsmouthdiocese.org.uk.

Botley Baptist Church, 1 Church Way

Sunday Service 11 am.

Wednesday Zoom Bible Study 7.30pm

Choir practice Thursday 2pm

Diane Melchert 07742 662668 www.botleybaptistchurch.org

Calvary Chapel

Sunday services held at Botley School 10.30– 12 noon

Pastor Philip Vickery 01865 864498

calvarychapeloxford@yahoo.co.uk;

www.calvarychapeloxford.org.uk

What’s On

July

Sat 2nd 11–12, Botley Bridges, Elms Road, Saturdads

Sat 2nd 4–6pm, Ss Peter & Paul, Messy church for children

Thur 7th 10–12pm Seacourt Hall, Mosaic Workshop, also on

14th and 21st.

Thur 7th 12.30pm, Seacourt Hall, Seniors Lunch Club, also

21st, then summer break, resumes 8th September.

Sat 9th 10–12.30, Ss Peter & Paul Church Hall, Great Bot-

ley Bring & Take

Sat 9th afternoon, WOCA, West Oxford Fun Day

Sat 9th from 6.30pm, Farmoor Summer Barbecue

Fri 15th 1.30–3pm, Pappo’s, West Way precinct, District

Councillors’ Surgery

Fri 22nd END OF TERM

Sat 30th 10.30–3pm, W.I. Hall, N Hinksey Lane, Quilling Open

Day and Workshops

All July and August, from July 4th, Roger Smith’s Exhibition for

Botley Arts at Ss Peter & Paul Church

End of July, Chris Andrews’ Romance of Oxford offer for Sprout

readers ends.

No U3A talks in July or August

August

Sat 6th 7pm, Farmoor Village Hall Race Night

Sun 14th 3-5pm, LM Pavilion, Arnold’s way, SPROUT AGM